Die Schwester
by School of Seven Bells
Summary: Evelina spent her entire life idolizing her soldier of a brother, and when her father puts his reputation before his duties as a parent, he inadvertently sends her running to the one place she feels safe.
1. No Wonder He Left

Disclaimer: I don't own SNK, nope, definitely do not.

Notes:

When I start writing for a new fandom, before I can even begin to write things that feature canon-characters only (other than fluffy oneshots), I absolutely have to write fics that heavily feature OCs because I'm still figuring out how to write that world, how to lose myself in it, etc, etc, and I'd rather go through the learning process with my OCs because there's more room for trial and error, experimentation, etc  
Anybody else have this thing?

This is really just for me to play around with the characters and the SNK world. This isn't meant for anybody to particularly like it. I'll try self-betaing, and won't half-ass any plot, writing, etc, but unlike I do for fics that I really *intend* for people to reallllly enjoy, I would stress myself out.

There will actually be a large, large chunk of this fic that does not involve canon characters at all which will start very shortly.

*Title means sister in German - it's subject to change, but I needed a working title.

I have this big headcanon that Erwin Smith was born a noble from Wall Sina..so I went with it.

* * *

**Prologue: No Wonder He Left The Nobility**

* * *

Evelina had always known that her family was a little strange. 'Normal' was the last word anybody would use to describe the Smith family. For one, nobody really talked about the brother she idolized and rarely saw, because according to her mother, he was "an ungrateful fool who turned his back on his family." Erwin, however, said that he had "finally had enough of the nobility's bullshit" and decided to do something about it by getting himself out of it by choice before their parents made a show of disowning him to save face. She might have been biased, but she was always more apt to believe her brother over their parents. Part of her bias toward her brother in spite of the whopping seventeen-year age difference may have had something to do with the fact that their childhood experiences were relatively comparable.

_Sit straight Erwin; Evelina, a lady walks with her head up and looks straight ahead_

_No son of mine will be seen running around with the tailor's son; you cannot be friends with Lenore, she is from the outskirts of Wall Sina_

_As your father's elder brother has no heir, you are the Smith's heir; as your brother turned his back on us, you are the Smith's heir_

_They are beneath you, son; the commoners are worth less than we are_

_Stop filling your head with ideas from those books; stop letting that traitor poison your mind_

_You still talk to those kids from the edge of Sina?; stop writing him, he will only steer you the wrong way_

_Good boys do not let their trousers get dirty; good girls never wear trousers_

_No, son, the soup spoon is for soup; it isn't proper to be left-handed, learn to use your right_

_Comb your hair; no, you cannot cut your hair_

_Part your hair to the right, it looks better that way; never let your hair come unbraided_

_Always say please and thank you; a lady does not demand, she requests_

_Make your smile less disturbing; do not snort when you laugh_

_I will slap you if you say something like that again; roll your eyes one more time, I dare you_

The trickiest part about their parents was the fact that they were not awful enough to simply hate. They were not physically abusive, and only occasionally were Maite's words cruel enough to consider emotional abuse. At times, though neither parent was particularly nurturing, they had their good moments. Sometimes, they were nice enough to where Evelina would think that it wasn't them she hated, but their ideals. Until she is punished for playing hide-and-seek with servants' children, or slapped by her mother for finding Erwin's old clothes and wearing them because dresses were so miserable, or scolded for using the wrong eating utensil.

Every move they made, their parents had a million reasons why it was wrong. Otto Smith was not quite as strict as his wife. Otto's only concerns were that his children grew up knowing how to acceptable members of noble society; he could not care less whether his son occasionally slouched in his chair, or if his daughter liked to look at the ground as she walked, or if they wanted to join the military, play with butchers' children, or befriend servants' daughters. Maite, on the other hand, was a direct descendant of the royal family – her grandmother was his grandfather's youngest sister – and put the utmost emphasis on public appearances. Otto had undeniably married up the social hierarchy and sentenced his offspring to a life of demanding rigidity and constant judgment. Both brother and sister learned the hard way that there was no room for independence in thought, action, or speech. It was either right or entirely, disgustingly wrong.

At seventeen years his junior, it was admittedly strange that Evelina maintained a somewhat steady, albeit long distance, relationship with her brother. She was not born until he was halfway through with his first year with the Survey Corps, and even then, he found out about her birth accidentally. He had accompanied then-commander Commander Willis to Wall Sina to gain support from the nobles for an expedition beyond the walls, and while kissing up to a nobleman whose name was hardly worth remembering, he overheard some women gossiping how Maite Smith gave birth a few months ago at the unusually old age of thirty-six, and _of course_ it had to be an affair, because their son and only other child was seventeen, so if they wanted more they would have had them earlier. If only they knew that the Smiths had not shared a bedroom since Erwin was small. If only they knew that Maite could not even say the word 'sex' unless she had had a few drinks. If _anybody_ in that household was having an affair, if would have been Otto.

Although he knew that it would be years before he could be of any use to his sister, he promised himself that should he still be alive, he would regularly write to her and offer himself as an ear to shout at (through ink and paper) or a source of advice. If anybody could help her survive their parents and still end up a remotely decent person, it was him. Being an active player in her life was all but entirely out of the question with his duties to the Survey Corps, but when he had the chance – usually three or four times a year for a maybe twenty-four hour period – he was always welcome at his childless uncle's house. It wasn't much, but to Evelina, it was better than nothing, and to Erwin, it was a way for him to make himself into a decent human being. He knew the horror that was being the child of Otto and Maite Smith, and he'd be damned is he did not at least try to help his sister through her own ordeal with them.

Evelina, though she had tried, never could figure out how to thank him enough. She also owed a great deal to her uncle Felix, her father's childless elder brother. Felix had graciously agreed to be their accomplice in their plan to keep in contact. He allowed them to send the letters to and from his address, and whenever Erwin did make it to Sina for his day-long visits, his door was open to him.

Without her uncle, Evelina would not have her brother, and without her brother, she would not have an 'I Survived Growing up a Smith' success story to model herself after. Erwin was in many ways more of an authority figure and role model to her than her parents were. To her, he was a hero and somebody to idolize. Erwin gave her hope that there were people in the world who cared about things more important than what somebody's surname was, or how much money someone's parents had, or what hand a person ate and wrote with. While she had no burning desire to go to the extent of joining the Survey Corps, Evelina desperately wanted to follow Erwin's path of independence.

In her mind, there was no greater achievement than independence.


	2. A Night Like This

**Chapter Summary:** Evelina hates her mother's friends, one of her nerdy hobbies becomes known, and she jumps a fence for her brother

**Notes: **There is more dialogue here than I usually put, but it felt necessary.

Erwin will be much less happy when he makes his next appearance. This is before the Wall Maria fell, so humanity's condition isn't quite as grave, also his sister is only 14 so although she knows what horrors he sees beyond the walls, he is going to act as jovial and carefree as he possibly can because she's still a kid and all.

Actually, I'm sorry, let me correct myself. There will be a few (by that I mean 2-3, like, actually *few*) more relatively-not-totally-current-canon-like Erwin appearances, but then his first appearance after the fall of Wall Maria, we'll definitely see an Erwin like canon.

* * *

**Chapter One: A Night Like This**

* * *

"Mother, do I _have _to go to this party? Claudia and I aren't even friends," Evelina said, though she knew that no amount of begging, pleading, or cursing the birthday girl's name would convince her mother to allow her to stay home.

"Nonsense," said the middle-aged woman as she waved the maidservant off. "Claudia has been your friend for years," she shook her head and made a comment about how the servant did not know how to properly lace a corset and undid her poor job.

"Actually, she and I loathe each other," Evelina groaned in discomfort as her mother pulled far too tightly on the corset strings. "She can hardly stand to look at me. Do you really want to ruin her birthday by making her put up with my ugly face?"

"You are going to the party tonight and that is final," Maite Smith pointed to the dress neatly laid out on her daughter's bed. "Put that dress on and do something with your hair. Our servants seem to be incompetent; you will have to do it yourself."

"Yes ma'am."

_I hate parties, _she had written in her last letter to her brother. _Claudia Arend turns fifteen this month, and you know how much she hates me, but her parents invited us to her birthday party, so I obviously have to attend. Mother's friends are all so stuck-up and boring, and their sons and daughters are no different. I just want to run around town, barefoot, and munching on apples all day. To me, that is a perfect day. Mother drags me to these parties because I need to be social, but what she doesn't understand is that I do have friends, she just pretends they don't exist._

Leonie Pascal and Arthur Bode, for example. The boyfriend and girlfriend duo were two years older than Evelina, her best and arguably only close friends, but also servants' children and therefore were not good enough to associate with someone of noble birth. Leonie's mother used to be one of the Smiths' maids, and Arthur's mother was her nanny, but when Maite discovered that her daughter had befriended her staff's children, they were fired solely on those grounds. She has written it to Erwin many times, and truly meant it, but she would not have hated being nobility so much if her peers did not demonize the lower classes so much so that she had to sneak around to see her best friends. Wealth had its perks, not even she could deny that, and it was nice to have the option to make servants do mundane tasks, but sometimes, a girl just wants to step into the kitchen and make her own salad without it being deemed scandalous.

"Wish me luck, Mr. Whiskers," Evelina said to her tattered terrycloth cat, scratching its ears like a real cat. "I am about to walk through the valley of bullshit."

"Ev-a-leeee-na! Downstairs," called her mother from the foyer. "The carriage is ready!"

"Coming, Mother! One moment," she shouted back, hairpins sticking out of her mouth as she rushed to pin the last stubborn pieces back.

:-:

_All right, _she thought to herself later that evening as she stood alone by the sweets table. _This could have been worse._

Claudia was still an arrogant little witch, and she always would be, but was too busy with her friends that night to bother with lighting the bitch torch. The birthday girl's decision to leave her guest of dishonor alone enabled said dishonored guest plenty of time to stand alone by the window and devour all of the sweets that the other girls were never going to touch anyway. Her father was too busy playing poker with the other girls' fathers, and her mother was preoccupied with keeping up her socialite image to dare drag Evelina into a conversation.

The Arends' home had a casement window large enough for a person to leap through that provided a beautiful view of the city streets, so Evelina stood with her back to the festivities, munch on chocolate truffles, and gazed out the window. Ironically, the event she thought she would hate the most turned out to be the only one remotely enjoyable.

"Vine, Miss Smith?"

Evelina looked over her right shoulder, fully intending to decline, but changed her mind when she saw who was offering her the drink. "Ralf! This is a surprise," she exclaimed gleefully. "I was not expecting you to be here tonight."

"I wasn't planning on it, but you know how persuasive Papa can be," Ralf ran his fingers through his tousled brown hair and joined his cousin by the window.

"Uncle Urs told you there would be free alcohol," Evelina laughed. "Typical Larsen."

"You certainly are one to talk," Ralf winked impishly and downed his glass of vine. "Smith. Though I suppose we aren't like the rest of our family."

"_Our _family? It will never not be weird," she said, stuffing her face with another truffle. "Hearing you say that. We are hardly related; I feel like we are good friends rather than relatives."

"My father is your mother's cousin. I guess that makes us not related closely enough for it to be disgusting if I kissed you."

"Right," Evelina snorted. "You and I both know your door opens inward. How _is _Sander, anyway?"

Ralf waggled his eyebrows suggestively and put on a seductive purr. "Are you asking about his health or his battering ram?"

"Why would I be interested in your boyfriend's…never mind."

"He's fine," Ralf chuckled and stepped forward to sit on the windowsill. "What about you? Still like boys, I assume? Because if not, then I know a girl you would hit it off with and-"

"Ralf! There you go," Evelina threw her head back in laughter and playfully punched his shoulder. "Arthur and Leonie have been trying to set me up with Arthur's brother for years, and now you are trying to set me up with girls? Can't a girl just be single and enjoy it?"

The older teenager leaned further back against the window and let out a yawn. "At your age and in our society, it is kind of a thing to gossip about."

"Then be my beard if you're so concerned," Evelina snorted and stuffed a truffle into his open mouth. "Like you said; distant enough relatives for it to not be considered incest, yeah?"'

Ralf made a face and rolled his eyes, raised his arms in the universal surrendering gesture, and bit off half of the truffle and shoved the other half in Evelina's mouth. "Nice try kid, but I had to suffer through years of inquiries and matchmaking attempts, and dear cousin, I love you, but it simply would not be fair to spare you from the torture. Think of our other cousins, the ones we are too related to, the ones we cannot even think of bearding for. How you could even think of us rubbing this unfair reality in their faces is beyond me, Evelina. I always that you were the _nice _Smith, but I suppose that designation belongs to Uncle Otto, since you are clearly the adversary of all things pure and just."

"I really hate you right now," Evelina said, polishing of the last of the chocolate truffles. "Do you think my mother would notice if I skipped out and went for a walk?"

"The sun is almost set, where were you thinking of walking?"

"The Arends have a large enough garden to stroll through," she answered, grabbing a square of peppermint bark. "Besides, if I do not get out of here, I will either leap from that window and purposely break my legs for the sake of entertainment, or, eat the entire sweets table and gain ten or twenty, so I will ask again. Do you think Mother will notice?"

"The more she drinks the less she cares, and I saw her finish at least three glasses of something clear, and we both know Auntie Maite does not drink water in public."

"Nor does she drink it in private," Evelina snorted before leaning forward to kiss Ralf on the cheek. "Thank you so much. If she asks you where I went, make something up."

"I'll tell her you are closed for business and you went to find some sort of blood-catching apparatus," Ralf said, gladly taking over her position as sweets eater.

"Closed for business – oh. Disgusting, very disgusting, but believable."

As inconspicuously as she could she tiptoed to the glass door that opened up into the Arends' backyard. From inside, she surveyed the area and pieced together how she would run across the patio, down its shrubbery-lined brick path, and into the flower garden. Evelina cast a final precautionary glance over her shoulder, and once certain her mother was not watching her, slipped through the doorway and dashed across the moonlit patio. Halfway down the off-shooting path, her left heel caught on a raised brick and her face became acquainted with a thorny shrubbery.

"Dammit," she swore, angrily yanking off her shoes and throwing them into the shrubs, not caring where they landed. "Please don't fall off," she begged her feet. "I am not mean to you on purpose. Those shoes are too small, I will talk mother into having larger ones made, but you have to promise not to fall off."

:-:

Flowers, though they made her sneeze, were indisputably better company than the people at Claudia's parties. She never terribly minded her own birthday parties, because although she could never invite her two best friends, she had some acquaintances within the nobility whose company she enjoyed, and when it came to parties in her honor, her mother always gave her full discretion over whom to invite, but other people's parties were case-by-case situations. At least for the duration of that evening, she would rather take her chances with her allergies than with her peers.

_Hello old friends, _she humorously thought, giving an ostentatious wave to the plants. She sat in her favorite spot, atop a large rock among the white amaryllises, orange begonias, and red zinnias, and set to dissecting specimens of each. Her governess, if she bothered teaching science anymore, would have been impressed with her willful explorations into the field of biology. Unfortunately, she had her last science lesson shortly before her eleventh birthday when her parents insisted that science was of no importance to a noble girl, and even her governess thought it was a shame to stop teaching Evelina's favorite subject. The teenager liked to think that in the end, she had the last laugh, because as long as somebody knew how to read, they only had to find books to educate his or herself about a topic.

From the pages of botany books, she learned about the parts of a flower and how the male and female reproductive organs differed from species to species. For example, each amaryllis flower contained both stamens and pistils, meaning both male and female reproductive parts, and begonias only had one or the other at the center of the flower. She knew botanical vocabulary words such as sessile, spadix, and inflorescence, words that most of her peers had never heard before. Her passion for biology was something she kept close to herself both because her mother would disapprove and because most of her peers would check out at the mention of any scientific terms, except, ironically enough, Arthur and Leonie.

The fact that the poor servants' children were more willing to listen to her rattle on about angiosperms, evergreens, and nomenclature than educated people never ceased to amaze her. Leonie always joked about how the scientific names for some plant species would have made fun names for children, jokes which never failed to make Arthur blush a hundred shades of red.

Evelina was so engrossed with playing with the amaryllises' anthers that she almost ignored the _clip-clop, clip-clop_ of horseshoes against the cobblestone street. The only thing that made her stand up and run to the wrought iron fence by the street was the realization that she heard not one, not two, but at least three horses. Members of the military police either patrolled on foot or in pairs of horseback riders, and at that time of night, anybody in the capital who owned horses were at home. To her right, she saw a group of no more than ten riders sporting black capes. As her eyes better adjusted to the darkness, she saw that the capes weren't black, but rather, a dark shade of blue or green.

"Scouting Legion," Evelina exclaimed in a whisper. Members of the Scouting Legion were rarely seen in Sina in-uniform, but she recalled from her brother's latest letter that since his scouting formation was still a new implementation, a handful of members were to report directly to Generalissimo Zacklay.

_If they are on their way to meet with the Supreme Commander, then they are going the most roundabout ass-backwards way imaginable, his office is behind them, _she thought before it dawned on her that they must be coming _from _the meeting rather than heading to it. That meant…

The wrought iron fence in front of her had rhombus-shaped holes large enough for her to fit her feet through them and she used those to stand so that her head was over the top of it. She scanned the group of soldiers until, to her relief, the person she was searching for came into view.

"Erwin! Hey, Erwin," Evelina used what little upper body strength she had to propel herself over the top of the fence, earning herself a massive tear in the back of her dress in the process, but at least she landed on her feet. She held her dress up to her lower thighs to make it possible to run and sped toward the group on horseback. "Oh, you're okay!"

"Inna, what are you doing out here alone at night? It's dan-"

"Relax, big brother," she sighed, finally reaching his horse. "I'm hardly out wandering the streets. I jumped that fence right there, see? I was escaping from Claudia Arend's party by mutilating plants in her garden – for science, I don't just go around dismembering flowers for the hell of it – and I heard the horses so I kind of…assumed it was you. Tore my dress in the process, but it's not like I was ever going wear the ghastly thing again anyway. Are you going to hug me, or are you going to pretend I am some stranger?"

Erwin glanced to the man on his left as if to request permission to dismount his horse and leapt to the street once it appeared to be granted.

"I will not keep him talking for long," Evelina said to the man, whom she assumed was Commander Shadis. "I only want a minute."

The commander smiled lightly and told her to take her time. Behind his smile, Evelina got the sense that with the high mortality rate among members of the Corps, chances for any of them to witness a happy reunion were few and far between, so of course he was happy to give her time to talk to her brother.

"C'mere, kid," Erwin said gleefully, grabbing Evelina and pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she said, but it was muffled because Erwin stood over twenty centimeters taller than she did and her face was buried in his chest. "I missed you so much."

"What was that?"

"I said," she turned her head to the side so his chest wouldn't muffle her again and clung to him like a child would their security blanket. "I'm glad you are okay and I missed you."

"Is everything okay at home? I will march in there and threaten Mother and Father if I have to," he said, jovial, but also completely serious.

"Father drinks, gambles, and makes lewd comments to Mother and she gossips, fires and hires staff because who needs a reason, certainly not Maite Smith, and corrects every last thing I do. I would say my home life is pretty stable, considering it has not changed since, oh, I don't know, birth? Other than –" Evelina's sentence was interrupted by a man atop a horse leaning down and sniffing her like a bloodhound.

"Oh, that's Mike, I told you about him before, right?"

"Depends, is this Mike-from-your-trainee-days Mike?"

Mike grinned, seemingly pleased that his friend and comrade found him interesting or important enough to tell his sister about, and nodded with a 'hm.'

A bespectacled brunette chuckled and feigned flattery. "Erwin, you love us so much that you include us in your letters to your sister? We are touched."

Erwin ignored her – or him, Evelina was uncertain – and pushed a piece of Evelina's hair from her face while carrying on with the conversation. "Are there any boys I need to chase away?"

"Right," Evelina snorted. "Boys being attracted to _me, _Erwin, that is a good one. Not that I want them to be attracted to me…books are worlds better than kissing, anyway. Are you staying in town for a few days, or are you on your way back to Wall Rose?"

"Sorry, Inna," he said, pulling her into another hug. "I can't stay this time."

"Oh," her face fell. "That's okay. As long as you don't forget to write…I'm glad I happened to catch you on your way out of Sina, I was afraid that today would be the day you met with the Supreme Commander and I would not get to see you because of that stupid party. By the way, did you get my last letter yet?"

"Not yet; it should be waiting for me at HQ. Will I finally learn the conclusion to the Betty Freeh drama?"

"You mean did I put that insufferable little witch in her place? Damn right I did, what, kind of sister do you think you brought up? I'll tell you now," she grinned maliciously and made an evil finger pyramid of victory. "Betty will not be trifling with me again anytime soon. Nobody fu – whoops, there are other adults besides you present – nobody messes with a Smith and gets away with it. I won't tell you more because I literally got a cramp in my wrist writing that part of the letter."

"I'm looking forward to it," he said, patting his horse in a subtle 'I-should-go-now' gesture.

Evelina nervously ran her fingers through her blonde hair and reached out to touch her brother's horse. "I suppose I should let you go. Otherwise your friends will be here all night and will all want to punch you. Hurry back for a visit, I could do with more brotherly corruption, my brain in melting being here alone."

"We'll see, Inna," he said, kissing her forehead and turning around to mount his horse.

"Mother is doing all she can to make me into the perfect little socialite housewife since her first child decided to go rouge and join the Recon Corps," Evelina teased, standing on her tiptoes for one more awkward hug. "Hey, one question before you go, and please don't laugh at me because it is an absurdly stupid question."

"Ask away."

"Our cousin Ralf is at the party as well and about two hours in, he came to talk to me and mentioned that he saw Mother down three glasses of clear liquor. Given her usual drinking rate at parties, the total number may be as high as five so do you think she is drunk enough to not really notice if I just go home instead of go back to the party?"

Erwin tried, but failed to stifle the laughter. "You have no idea how to get back over that fence, do you?"

"Nuh uh, I could _totally _jump that fence again. I just do not want to go back to that party, so do you think she is drunk enough for me to have a reasonable chance of successfully sneaking home?"

"Risk it anyway," Erwin said, moving his horse forward as the rest of his comrades began to move. "I taught you to be a fearless rebel, now go forth and rebel!"

"Yeah," Evelina said once he was out of earshot. "That's right, Ev, you can do this. Walk home, walk home, that's all you need to do."


	3. Otto Smith

Notes: Still don't own SNK.

I have this headcanon that Erwin was born a noble, and to make this a bit unique, nobles have given names, first names, middle, and last name. The given name is something passed down in families and often the same from father to son and mother to daughter, and it is more of a title than a name. The first name is what they go by, and then there is a middle name, and a surname.

* * *

**Otto Smith**

* * *

"What are you doing awake, Miss?"

Evelina stopped brushing her hair and placed her brush back on the vanity. "Felicity," she chuckled at her nanny-turned-maid. "It is a Tuesday; I have math and grammar lessons with Madame Wahlberg."

"Not today, Miss. Your mother asked me to wake you at this time to let you know she has told your governess to cancel today."

"Did Mother tell you why, Felly? Oh, and drop the miss when it is just you and me, you practically raised me."

"Your mother did not say anything," she shook her head and patted her graying bun. "Sorry I can't give you more information."

"No, no, don't worry about it. If lessons are cancelled then I may as well pay a visit to Arthur and Leonie. You will figure out a lie to tell Mother, right?"

"As always," Felicity promised as she set to work cleaning the room.

Still in her nightgown, Evelina tiptoed to the staircase and leaned over the banister. "Mother," she called down into the foyer. "Is there a specific reason you cancelled my lessons today?"

To her surprise, there wasn't the faintest sign of life from downstairs, and considering it was a Tuesday morning, that was beyond unusual. _Oh well, _she shrugged and walked across the hall to Erwin's old room. Felicity once stated that the only people who touched it after he left for the military were the maids who took care of the dust, which led Evelina to believe that her parents did not hate him as much as they pretended to. Parents who hated their children did not leave their bedroom like a shrine to them.

Given that her parents never set foot in the room, it was the perfect place to hide possessions she did not want discovered; more specifically, clothes. Hanging at the back of Erwin's closet was a commoner's outfit Evelina had pieced together with items borrowed from Arthur's, Leonie's, and Erwin's collections of outgrown clothes. Too tight trousers and slightly too large boots Erwin wore when he was thirteen, a white shirt and sleeveless tunic from Arthur, and a brown hooded cape from Leonie that hid what little evidence she had of her feminine figure made up an outfit that disguised her beyond recognition. The outfit was not shabby enough for her to be mistaken for a servant, but was so ordinary that she looked like a governess's or financier's child, or a member of the least elite class of nobles her mother liked to call 'barely nobility.' With her barely nobility disguise, she was able to walk through town to get to the farm Arthur and Leonie's families lived and worked on without attracting suspicion. Seeing as both of her parents were not home, she decided to seize the opportunity before the window closed itself on her.

Often, she wished that she herself could have lived on a farm where there were trees to climb, fields to run through, grassy hills to roll down, and best of all nobody to shame a girl for wanting to make her own salad. Her fondest childhood memories were of sneaking off to the farm to visit her friends. She knew that she could not stay long, for it was almost harvest season, but a few hours could be spared. The first person she saw when she reached the farm was Leonie.

"Leonie, turn around!"

"Evelina! Oi, Arthur," Leonie shouted across the field. "S'our runaway rich girl, come to visit us, say hello!"

Leonie and Arthur dropped whatever tools they were holding and ran across the field to greet their friend with bear hugs. "You, little missy, are in big trouble," Leonie scolded.

"Yes, you haven't been to see us in over three weeks," Arthur pouted like a child and wiped away an imaginary tear. "We thought you forgot about us, you heartless demon."

"Right, I did, but I woke up this morning and remembered that I had two loser friends on the farm and may as well see if they wanted to hang out."

"So we are your backup plan boredom activity? That hurts," he mimicked being stabbed in the chest, but yelped in pain for real when Leonie smacked him upside the head. "Abuse!"

"Maybe if my boyfriend weren't such an idiot, I wouldn't have to smack him," Leonie teased, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Come on, let's go sit by the creek and catch up with our little blondie."

:-:

Leonie Pascal was a relatively short, green-eyed, firmly built brunette with a fiery personality that presented itself in both the best and the worst ways. Leonie's love knew now bounds. She was a steadfast friend, a devoted girlfriend, and her parents' most dutiful daughter, but was also someone whose hate a person did not wish upon their worst enemies. She was a person who always had a strong opinion and never hesitated to speak her mind

Balancing out her fierceness and intensity was her incredibly tame boyfriend, the brunet, steely grey-eyed Arthur Bode. Upon meeting him, people tended to think instead of his girlfriend, he was the one to be afraid to of. Arthur was a tall, muscular young man with a gravelly voice, and like all of the males from his village of origin, sported several piercings on his right ear. His accent and occasional use of words unfamiliar to the people in and around their area of Wall Sina set him apart as an 'other' and even people in his same social class shied away from him. One look at his piercings and people took off running, but once somebody took the time to talk to him, they shortly discovered that the mysterious out-of-towner was nothing but a docile old dog.

Their trio was odd, and sometimes, Evelina debated with herself about whether or not she even belonged there, but she could not possibly ask for better friends. In a way, she owed her open-minded existence to the couple just as much as she owed it to her brother, nanny-maid, and cousin. By the influence of those five people, she learned things that she never would have learned from her parents, and could not imagine her life any different.

"Come visit us more," Leonie demanded in a ridiculously sweet voice, her head in the younger girl's lap, legs thrown across her boyfriend's. "It's dull without your visits."

"We have plenty of fun on our own, but we miss our runaway rich girl," Arthur said tossing a stone at a squirrel as it leapt from tree to tree. "Plus, sentiment, childhood attachments, you know?"

"I still feel awful about you and your moms being ousted from my home. If I had not been so stubborn and insisted on being friend with you, you would still be living in the servants' quarters and your moms would have nicer jobs," Evelina twirled a strand of her hair around her finger and let out a sigh. "How unfair."

"Ma hated yours, anyway," Arthur laughed.

"Everyone hates my mother, except Father and I," Evelina pointed out. "Even then, I find her barely tolerable time to time. I cannot believe your mothers don't resent me for all of that."

"Nonsense! Mom was actually glad to be kicked out of the Smith home. She is worlds happier living and working on this farm, and so is Arthur's Ma."

Evelina patted Leonie's head and shrugged with a grin on her face. "All right, then, if you say so. Sun is at its highest point, guys. I should go home."

"At least let me horseback you to the edge of town, it's one hell of a walk," Arthur offered.

"No, I'm okay, I can walk it. Thank you, though," she said, hopping to her feet.

:-:

Whether a person believed in God, karma, the Walls, destiny, or kismet was irrelevant. The indisputable fact of existence was that the universe worked in infuriatingly strange and confusing ways. Even things that should be and have every reason to be guarantees were not granted one hundred percent certainty. Improbabilities were another thing that threw the balance of the universe off-kilter and into entropy. The domino effect, how one decision had the potential to set off a chain reaction of related but separate events, was yet another mortal enemy of order and security.

Adults blamed the disorder in the world on many things: politics, the poor, fate, greed, money or lack thereof, titans, the military, the list went on forever. Evelina firmly believe that people were the heart and soul of the problem. Humanity was precious to her, but not even she could deny that human nature was tricky. People were selfish and made decisions that affected others without so much as their input. The wealthy shamelessly took advantage of the poor and took more taxes or rent from tenants than necessary. Children, especially young girls in Sina, were encouraged to not think rather than be curious.

Occurrences of improbabilities were a fact of life, but, as Evelina found out later that day, you never quite understand what that means until it happen to you.

Later, she figured that she should have known something was fishy when Felicity screeched in fear upon seeing her enter the house through the kitchen door. The look in her nanny-maid's eyes was of pure, unadulterated horror. Had it been another one of her family's employees, Evelina would have thought the reason for the screech was her commoners' outfit, but since it was Felicity, that could not have been the case. The middle-aged woman grabbed her longtime charge by the wrist and dragged her into the cupboard.

"Felly!"

"Listen dear, please, I need you to stay calm and listen. Your father…there is somebody here to see you, a man, and he is friends with your father. I hid a dress in here about an hour ago," Felicity knelt down and slid a dress from under the bottom shelf. "Change into this dress right here, right now, and join your parents and their guest in the sitting room. You need to be on your best, best behavior – oh, dearie, there is no time to freshen you up…well, hurry and put that dress on, it will have to do."

Without a mirror, she could not be certain, but she was positive that her face had lost its color. Felicity had been employed by the Smith family since she was fifteen, and that was twenty-nine years ago. She had been by Otto, Maite, Erwin, and Evelina through the family's most trying times – financial rough patches due to Otto's gambling, Maite's two miscarriages between her son and daughter, Erwin's near-deadly battle with the measles, Evelina's first menstrual cycle and every one thereafter, broken bones for both children – nothing, literally, nothing threw Felicity.

Nothing, that is, except for whatever Otto's friend wanted.

"My favorite dress," Evelina said, smoothing out a wrinkle in the black material.

"I wanted you to smile," Felicity said soft as a butterfly's wing.

Evelina stepped out of the cupboard, grabbed a butter roll from the basket on the island counter, and devoured it on her way to the sitting room. Her best behavior must have been too much to ask, because instead of silently joining her mother on the sofa, she entered the room with a classic noisy, cheery, Evelina Smith greeting.

"Hello Mother, Father -" and queue the obnoxious curtsey " – honored guest."

"Oh, Mr. Vogel, our daughter," Otto said, the most ersatz grin imaginable plastered onto his face. "She is a lively, joyful one, an utter delight."

"Yes," Maite added, wearing a smile as big as Otto's, but hers was genuine. "Evie is our sunshine."

"Mother, please, you named me Evelina," the teenager chuckled pleasantly as she took her seat. "I am sorry to have kept you waiting, I was, visiting a friend. Claudia Arend, you all know her, correct? I wanted to properly thank her for last week's lovely evening."

"Polite, too," Mr. Vogel's hoarse voice droned.

Mr. Vogel was one of her father's gambling opponents and was one of the eldest males in Sina's fifth most powerful family, beaten out only by his own father. Evelina did not know much of the man, other than he was twice a widower and about a decade her father's senior. If Mr. Vogel had children, she either had not met them, or, they weren't in the right age group for her to interact with enough to remember meeting them. He was clearly a man to flaunt his wealth, more so than even her own parents, and a thick air of self-importance surrounded his very presence. The smile on his face and look in his cold blue eyes was even more unnerving than her father's nervous knuckle-cracking.

Otto Smith cleared his throat and gestured to his daughter. "Abelhard, do tell my little girl why you have come to see us."

"Right, Otto, yes, I was so enamored by this vivacious creature's entrance that I almost forgot," chuckled the older man with more mockery than mirth. "Miss Smith, would you mind telling me your full name?"

"Sir," she asked, confused. "All of my names?"

"Yes, your given, first, middle, surname, and maternal surname, if you do not mind."

"My full name is Maria Evelina Tatiana Smith, and my mother's maiden name is Arriaga," she said.

"Hm, only one middle name," Mr. Vogel noted aloud. "How unusual, I believe both of your parents have at least two. Then again, you _are _a peculiar young woman, are you not?"

Evelina bit her lip and let out a nervous laugh. "Sir, I like to take words such as peculiar and odd as compliments, and I hope you intended it as such."

"Of course, darling, of course," Mr. Vogel cleared his throat and tapped his cane on the stone floor. "Would you like to know what brings me here today?"

"Yes sir," the teenager nodded politely and lowered her eyes until he began to speak.

"By now, you are well-aware of your father's gambling habit. You also know that at Miss Claudia Arend's birthday celebration, your father went into the Arends' sitting room and spent the night betting with our peers. Your father gambled away a considerable portion of the Smith fortune to me that night, but being the gracious man I am, I offered him an alternative. His money –" the unnecessary dramatic pause only made the girl's palms sweat. " – in exchange for his daughter."

_His money…in exchange for his daughter._

Those last seven words were all that mattered to her. _His money in exchange for daughter, his money in exchange for his daughter, his money…_

…_for his daughter_

_money…_

…_daughter. _

_Money. Daughter. _

Money, money, money, all that ever really mattered was money.

"Mr. Vogel, I am sorry, but I need clarification," Evelina said evenly, trying to keep it together. "You are here, so logic says Father agreed to the deal, but on whose behalf did you ask for my hand?"

"My son, of course," Mr. Vogel droned, stroking his salt and pepper beard. "Kristofer, he is twenty. Your surprise is understandable, Kristofer was very surprised when I told him this morning."

Maite clasped her daughter's hand and grinned like a giddy child on their birthday. "Your father and I have already arranged the details with the Vogels. An arranged marriage to a man with a pedigree like Kristofer Vogel will serve you well socially, financially, and it would seem that Vogel men are blessings for fertility."

Evelina could not believe her ears; her mother was already talking about her having children with this man. "This is wonderful news, Mother, Father, Mr. Vogel. Have you decided when the wedding will be?"

"Marvelous! You are only fourteen, so your father and I believe it is best to wait until you are at least fifteen," Maite said, patting her daughter's hand with enthusiasm. "I married your father when I was seventeen and he was twenty-three, a healthy age difference is important in a marriage, agreed, Abelhard?"

"Absolutely, my late wives were four and elven years my juniors," Mr. Vogel wore a pained expression; perhaps the man had a soul after all. "I would not have had it any other way."

Every fiber of her being was telling her to stand up, scream, shout, break a vase, light a log on fire and toss it at her unwanted future father-in-law, to do something – anything! – to make her true feelings known. Instead of fighting it, instead of Evelina Smith taking a stand for what Evelina wanted, she sat still and lied like a pro.

Yes, Mr. Vogel, I am eager to marry your son.

Absolutely, let the engagement celebration be tomorrow night.

I am sure I will fall in love when I see him, too, Mr. Vogel.

Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Vogel, come again.

It was not until after she saw his carriage pull away from the house that she leapt to her feet and kicked the sofa so hard it moved back a couple of centimeters. White hot rage filled her to the core, heart and soul, inside and out, mind and spirit. The betrayal from her parents, particularly her father, over being literally gambled away in a poker game cut her to the bone, beyond the bone, _through it_. The room spun and froze at the same time, the temperature both rose and fell, the world was in monochrome as well as color, this was a dream but she was also wide awake.

"You bastard," she growled at her father. "You selfish, appalling, abysmal excuse for a father bastard!"

"Evelina, language," Maite snapped.

"You have no right," she said, her voice shaking with the rage threatening to spill over. "Neither of you have the fucking right!"

Her mother reached out to grab her wrist, but Evelina slapped her away. "Evelina, sit down"

"No! I'm going to my room," she hissed.

She sent a final glare of her shoulder before storming off to her bedroom and locking the door.

:-:

An hour later, and neither of her parents had come upstairs to talk to her. She imagined that most children would have been offended, but in her case, leaving her alone was the only thing her parents had done right that day. Strewn across her bedroom floor were numerous balls of crumpled paper each with a rejected line or two written. Resting on the desk in front of her, ink smudged in some places with teardrops, was the final copy of the letter.

_Erwin,_

_Today, Mother and Father told me something terrifying and it is very important that I share it with you. I cannot, do not, and will not expect you to do anything about it. This is not something I imagine you should be concerned with; however, you deserve to know. You are the last person in the Walls who needs to be told about Father and his poker habit. Father usually wins, so I suppose that is why it has never bothered me before. There was a poker match at Claudia's birthday party and Father apparently lost big. Mr. Abelhard Vogel came to our home today to speak with me. Mr. Vogel told me that Father lost a large portion of the Smith fortunate to him in that poker match, and basically, he offered to cut father a deal. The deal was that Father could keep the money, but instead of the fortune, he had to give me away. _

_In case I was not clear enough, Mr. Vogel wanted me to marry his son in exchange for Father keeping the money. Tomorrow night is the engagement party and that is when I will meet him for the first time. All I know is that his name is Kristofer, he is twenty, he found out about the engagement a few hours before I did, and our fathers want to us to marry next year. I am terrified about tomorrow, about meeting my fiancé, about meeting a stranger. By the time you receive this letter in three days' time, I will have met him. Erwin, I may be overstepping the boundaries of what appropriate and plausible requests are when I say this, but if it is at all possible, could you ask your Commander if you can come to Sina? You do not even have to stay the night at Uncle Felix's, just see if you can take a day to ride out, visit for a few hours, and ride back. If you can't get permission, I understand, but at least write back telling me what to do. _

_If I was ever this afraid before, I was too young to remember. The combination of emotions from all of my bad memories is nothing compared to how I am feeling after today's news. The room both spun and froze at once, I was numb but had never felt so alive, I was paralyzed with fear but also shaking with rage, I wanted to cry but I also wanted to laugh. I shouted at Mother and Father, told them they were awful, and almost let it slip that I have been writing to you._

_Erwin, I need your help. Tell me what to do, give me your advice; you always give such helpful advice. If your only advice is to sit still and let this happen, I will do just that, and if you tell me to run, I will do that. Given my panicked state of mind, the only person's judgment I trust anymore is yours. You always have answers. I need answers._

_Your nervous wreck of a sibling,_

Evelina raked her fingers through her blonde hair and allowed her head to fall to the surface of the desk. She blinked the last few tears from her eyes and decided that once she signed the letter with the nickname Erwin gave her there would be no more tears.

_Inna_

There, she declared silently.

Three soft knocks at the door interrupted the process of folding the letter. Assuming it was her mother, she shouted at the top of her lungs for her to go away and took the liberty of using obscene language solely to spite her.

"It isn't your mother," a gentle voice on the other end replied.

"Felly," Evelina gasped, jumping up and running to the door. "I never meant to curse at you, I thought you were Mother."

"I came to see how you were," Felicity's eyes were filled with the same compassion they always had been. "Is there anything I can possibly do?"

"I have a letter for Erwin. Can you bring it to Uncle Felix's house so he can send it off? Also," she hesitated, she didn't want to ask too much of her nanny, but the woman did bring it upon herself when she came to check on her. "When you get back, can you…hug me goodnight like when I was small?"

Felicity kissed the top of Evelina's forehead, cupped her face in her hands, and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "You wait here, I will take of that letter."

"Thank you," she meant to say aloud, but it came out as more of a labored whisper.


End file.
